


Volpino

by buoyantsaturn



Series: Lovebug [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Faked Death, M/M, an identity reveal scare, its never mentioned but theres some backstory for you, piper runs the ladyblog in this au, then a real identity reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2018-12-25 21:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12044946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: “I’m Volpino,” the stranger said, holding out a hand to Nico, “A new hero. Nice to meet you.”A continuation of the Lovebug au, almost directly following Sunshine





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys,,,,,,,,,,, i aint dead yet,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
> 
> ((sorry for any errors i wrote this v late last night))

Will pressed Nico back against against the brick wall of a building, fingers gripping his thighs and hiking them up over his hips until Nico’s ankles locked behind Will’s back. Will’s lips traveled from Nico’s mouth to his jaw to pressing kisses along the edges of Nico’s mask.

“We’re supposed to be patrolling,” Nico reminded him, arms wrapped around Will’s shoulders as he tipped his head back against the bricks, allowing Will more space to kiss down his neck.

Will smirked at tipped his head up until his nose brushed against Nico’s. “Are you sure that’s what you’d rather be doing?”

Nico rolled his eyes to keep from getting himself lost in the beautiful blue of Will’s, and spotted a familiar black butterfly as it fluttered nearby. “Akuma,” Nico whispered, as if raising his voice would startle it.

“Where?” Will asked, leaning back slightly and looking around. “I don’t see it.”

“It’s just the butterfly,” Nico told him. “Put me down. Maybe we can capture it and purify it before it can possess someone.”

Will dropped Nico’s legs and they took off toward the butterfly. 

They didn’t catch it in time.

 

They fought with the akuma all through the night, resulting in Will and Nico only getting about two hours of sleep before they had to be at school. 

Will walked into the classroom about thirty seconds before the bell rang, one hand on the strap of his backpack and the other holding a coffee carrier. He dropped one drink off in front of Nico - whose head was pressed against the desk, possibly asleep - and kissed the top of his head before stepping back to his own seat. He handed off another drink to Piper, leaving the last one for himself. He didn’t even take the cup out of the carrier before lifting it to his mouth and taking a lot drink.

“Nothing for me?” Jason asked.

Piper, who was cradling the drink close to her chest - having also not slept much the night before either, instead having stayed away awake to watch the battle on her laptop - said to him, “You don’t need it like we do.”

For half a second, Will wondered if Jason had slipped and told Piper of their identities, but when Jason rolled his eyes and turned back to face the front of the room, Will figured they were probably safe.

Jason nudged at Nico’s shoulder when the teacher began to speak, pulling him out of his half-sleeping state. Nico snatched up the coffee in front of him as soon as he laid his eyes on it, paying no attention at all to the new student standing beside the teacher.

He only glanced up long enough to see the new kid already staring at him, and averted his eyes quickly back down to his coffee. He heard the teacher say an unfamiliar name - Ethan - before the new kid walked to the back of the room and the actual class began.

Nico would have to remember to thank Will at least a hundred times for the coffee - he never would’ve survived the day without it. Maybe he could thank him by continuing where they left off before last night’s fight…

 

Percy, despite the last time he walked through Nico’s bedroom door unannounced, did not learn his lesson. He burst into Nico’s room - the two boys already inside the room in mid-makeout session, Will having lost his shirt somewhere along the way though there was nothing else particularly incriminating - and refused to leave until Nico acknowledged him.

“Get out!” Nico called, throwing one of his pillows at Percy.

“Mom made mostaccioli, come eat,” Percy told him, holding his ground.

“Leave!” Nico tried again, and this time threw a half-empty water bottle.

“Will can come too,” Percy said, “but dude, you gotta stop sneaking in here, or else more people are gonna figure out your little secret.”

“Don’t joke about that,” Will said calmly, though the expression on his face was the most threatening he’d ever appeared to Percy.

“Don’t you dare,” Nico growled, and threw a heavy textbook.

“Holy shit!” Percy exclaimed, jumping out of the way. “Fine, don’t eat!” He stormed back out of the room.

Nico groaned and relaxed back against the pillow he hadn’t thrown. After a moment he realized that Will’s eyes weren’t on him, instead lingering on the door. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

Will smiled sheepishly. “Snack break?”

  
  


They patrolled again that following Saturday, after Will took Nico out to dinner at a crappy little diner a few blocks from Sally’s candy store. Will didn’t see what was so great about the place, but it was Nico’s favorite, and the mediocre food and slow service was worth the look on Nico’s face from simply being in a place he loved.

They raced across rooftops as they scanned the city for monsters, finding nothing after the first hour and choosing to stargaze instead. Nico felt like he might’ve been nodding off when something shifted off to his side, and Will jumped to his feet beside him.

Nico scrambled to his feet, trying to see in the dark whatever Will’s night visioned eyes could see, though the shape only took form once it was right in front of him.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir?” a voice said, unrecognizable to either of the heroes. 

“Who’s asking?” Nico shot back, tightening his hand around his yo-yo. 

The features on the face in front of him seemed vaguely familiar, though the orange mask across the eyes prevented him from fully recognizing the face.

“I’m Volpino,” the stranger said, holding out a hand to Nico, almost seeming like he didn’t know that Will was there at all. “A new hero. Nice to meet you.”

“New hero?” Will said, and grabbed Volpino’s hand. “Cool! Great to meet you, too. Tonight’s a slow night, but we can let you in on our patrol route and schedule so you can join us next time. Did you just move into the city? How long have you been Volpino? What kinds of powers do you have?”

“Chat,” Nico said, laying a hand on Will’s arm to calm him.

“Sorry, I’m just excited,” Will said. “We’ve never met a new hero before! So, uh, yeah, do you have any cool powers you can show off?”

Instead of answering verbally, Volpino disappeared in a tiny puff of smoke. For a moment, Nico thought that he might’ve been dreaming, but then he felt a tap on his shoulder and spun around, once again facing Volpino.

“You can teleport?” Will asked. “That’s awesome!” 

“Not quite,” Volpino said with a shrug, “but it’s a little harder to explain.”

“Still super cool,” Will told him. “C’mon, we’ll show you our usual patrol route.”

Will hurried toward the edge of the roof, Nico following close behind as he jumped to the next building. Every so often, Will would turn around to make sure Volpino was still following or to give out little fun facts about the different buildings. It wasn’t long before the tiredness Nico had been feeling before started wearing down on him. He slowed until Volpino was between him and Will, and then somehow even managed to lose them altogether.

He considered turning around to head home and shooting off a text to Will to tell him where he went, but figured he should just let Will know in person rather than making him worry. So Nico continued on, jumping and swinging from one building to another, pausing only momentarily to scan the skyline for the familiar shape of his boyfriend, though he didn’t see him.

Just as he was about to head out once more, a hand dropped onto his shoulder, startling him. He spun around to see Volpino, crowding him up against the edge of the roof.

“I know who you are, Ladybug,” he said, and Nico’s heart stopped. 

He hoped that he would just be able to talk himself out of this. “Uh, no you don’t,” he tried hesitantly. “Nobody knows who I am. I’ve never told anybody, not even my own family.”

“I know that you’re a junior in high school, seventeen probably,” Volpino said, hand tightening on his shoulder. “You sit in the front row in your English class, second seat from the door. Maybe I don’t know your name, but it won’t be too hard to figure it out.”

“What do you want from me?” Nico demanded, unable to think of any other way out.

Volpino smiled cruelly. “You’ll see.”

For a second, Nico was afraid that Volpino might push him over the edge of the building, but then he heard Will’s voice somewhere in front of him calling out, “Hey, you found him!” He ran forward as Volpino finally stepped aside. “Where’d you go, Bugaboo?”

“I got a little tired and fell behind,” Nico told him, “but I’m good now.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty late, isn’t it?” Will commented. “I guess we should all call it a night. See you around, Volpino! Next patrol is on Monday, we usually meet at that flowershop by the river if you wanna join us.”

Nico didn’t listen for Volpino’s response, too shaken up to care about anything other than getting out of there as fast as he could. Soon enough, the new hero was gone, and Will turned toward his boyfriend.

“You okay, Darling?” he asked softly. “You look a little spooked.”

Nico cracked a smile - it was a good thing it was so dark because there was no chance it looked assuring. “All good, Sunshine. Just tired.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy halloween everyone!! i dressed up as betty from adventure time and nobody knew who i was but its fine i hope u enjoy this chapter!!

Nico kept his head down in class on Monday, didn’t speak much to anyone, was the first one out of the classroom and the last one inside the next. He hadn’t told the others yet about his dilemma, though they seemed to understand that he wasn’t in the mood to talk all day. He’d thought he’d made it out free, that his identity would remain safe for another day, until his anxiety got the best of him during class.

“Nico di Angelo,” his teacher called, startling him into paying attention. “Have you been listening to a single word I’ve said today?” She waited for Nico to respond, but he was too busy trying to get his heart to restart. “That’s what I thought.”

The teacher went back to her lesson, and Nico’s heart began to beat again, rapidly. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, like his heart was going to pound out of his chest. He grabbed his backpack from under his seat and ran out of the room without a second thought.

“Hey, Nico!” Will called after him. “Wait!”

“Mr. di Angelo!” the teacher shouted, but Nico was already out the door.

“I’m gonna go see what’s wrong,” Will said, rising from his seat, but the teacher told him to sit. 

She scanned the room before her eyes landed on someone in the back of the room. “You, new kid, go find him and see what the issue is.”

Will turned around to see Ethan rise from his seat near the back wall of the classroom, eyes following him until he was out of the room.

Nico had run down the stairs and toward his locker, sliding down to the ground and holding his head between his knees. “Tikki,” he whispered, “I need help.”

“What’s wrong?” Tikki asked as he zipped out of his backpack. “Do you need to transform?”

“I think somebody found out,” Nico breathed. “I didn’t say anything to anyone, I swear, but--” He heard footsteps coming toward them, and pulled Tikki close to his chest. “Someone’s coming, hide!”

He tucked his head back between his knees and tried to look as small as possible until he heard a voice say, “Nico di Angelo.”

Nico’s head shot up, eyes landing on the new kid Ethan, though he couldn’t help but think that the voice had sounded familiar. Ethan knelt down in front of him with a creepy grin stretched across his lips.

“What do you want?” Nico asked, hoping he sounded more threatening than afraid.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Ethan asked. “Don’t you know who I am?” Nico hesitated, struggling to make the connection he knew he needed to make. Ethan smirked. “Why, Ladybug, I’m offended.”

Nico’s eyes grew wide and choked on his next breath. “Volpino,” he croaked.

“Aw, you remembered!” Ethan exclaimed. “It’s the fear, right? Fear helps you remember things, I think I read that somewhere. I have a feeling the city’s going to be pretty afraid later today when they find out that their savior is just a kid.”

He couldn’t mean…

“What do you want from me?” Nico asked again.

“You’ll see.”

 

Ethan returned to class, but Nico did not. “I couldn’t find him,” he said, and sat down at his desk.

Will’s phone vibrated in his pocket.  _ Emergency. Ethan is Volpino. Don’t trust him, don’t talk to him. Meet me at my place ASAP. _

_ Class ends in 20, I’ll see you then. _

_ ASAP means NOW, Will! _

_ ASAP means as soon as possible, and if I skip class again, my mom will kill me! _

“Mr. Solace, I understand that the day is almost over, but you’re still on my time, so please put your phone away,” the teacher called.

 

* * *

 

The second the bell rang, Will sprung out of his seat and was the first out of the room. He hurried around a corner, glancing around to make sure there was no one nearby before unbuttoning the pocket on his flannel.

Plagg’s head popped out as he yawned. “Morning already?”

“School’s over,” Will told him quickly. “We’re going over to Nico’s, but we gotta hurry, so--”

“Will!” Jason shouted, shoving at Will’s shoulder to get his attention. “What do you think you’re doing? You’re in the middle of a hallway!”

Will groaned and poked at Plagg’s head until he sunk back into the pocket. “Nico said there’s some kind of emergency and that I have to meet him at his place immediately. I figured transforming would be the fastest way to get there.”

“Yeah, well, next time, use your eyes,” Jason told him. He turned to walk away, but suddenly Piper was in front of him, holding out her phone and practically squealing. 

“There’s gonna be a Ladybug special on the news in  _ ten minutes,” _ she cried. “We all have to watch it together, do you know where Nico is?”

“He’s at home, I think,” Jason answered, glancing back at Will who was getting fidgety. 

“Then let’s go! We can watch it at his place,” Piper said, and pulled on Jason’s arm until he followed. Will hurried after them. 

Nico lived the closest to the school out of all of them. It took about five minutes for them to get to Sally’s candy shop, and when they ran up the stairs to the apartment, Nico answered the door looking disheveled and confused at the sight of them. 

Piper pushed past him, and flopped down onto the couch, scrambling to find the remote to turn on the TV. Jason and Will entered in a far more orderly fashion.

“Uh, what’re you guys doing here?” Nico asked. 

“Ladybug special on the news,” Piper called. “Starts in like, four minutes.”

From the TV, they heard a news reporter say, “In just a few minutes, we will go going live with seventeen-year-old Ethan Nakamura, who claims to know the true identity of the city’s savior, Ladybug.”

Nico seemed to choke on his next breath. “Oh, uh. Will? Can I talk to you upstairs?” He grabbed Will’s hand and pulled him towards the stairs without waiting for a response. 

“Hurry back, we gotta watch this together!” Piper told them.

Nico dropped his bedroom’s trapdoor shut and and threw his backpack down on top of it, while Will did the same. The door didn’t have a lock, but the combined weights of their backpacks tended to be enough to prevent someone from easily pushing open the door. 

“We need to leave, I’ll explain on the way,” he said, and he and Will called out their transformations.

“Is this about that news report?” Will asked once they were up on the roof.

“Ethan is Volpino,” Nico told him, and jumped over the edge.

Nico had swung himself over to another rooftop before Will had unfrozen himself and followed after him. “How do you know that?” he asked, and managed to keep up this time as Nico continued on. 

“He told me,” Nico answered. “Or, no, not quite-- But I know he  _ is, _ and he knows who  _ I am.” _

“How?” Will asked, and Nico said, “I don’t know.”

They stopped at the edge of a rooftop where a few news vans were hanging out on the street. Will set his hands on Nico’s shoulders and turned him to look into his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Nico hated seeing that betrayed look in Will’s eyes. “I tried to, but it was never a good time. I was going to, I promise, but it’s a little late now. Let’s go.” He tipped his head in the direction of the street, and Will nodded once. 

Nico tossed his yo-yo and watched it latch onto a gargoyle on the building across the street. The wind whistling in his ears prevented him from hearing what was being said below him, but he didn’t need to hear the words that were undoubtedly coming from Ethan’s mouth. He hoped he wasn’t too late as he swooped in and snatched Ethan off the ground, carrying him back onto the roof where Will was waiting.

“You’re ruining the story, guys,” Ethan told them with a smirk, straightening up from where Nico dumped him on the roof. “I bet somebody’s career was riding on this juicy gossip.”

“That’s one person’s career over the lives of everyone in this city,” Will said, standing a step behind Nico with his arms crossed and his most threatening glare across his features. Ethan didn’t falter.

“What do you want from me?” Nico asked, one final time. 

“Nothing,” Ethan answered.

“What do you mean?” Nico asked cautiously.

Ethan leaned forward until he was in Nico’s face. “I don’t want anything from you, other than to hopefully ruin your life. Is it working?”

Will held out his hands placatingly. “Hang on a second--”

Nico surged forward and fisted his hands in the front of Ethan’s t-shirt. “If you even _think_ _about_ saying another word to those reporters--”

“Hey, back off!” Ethan exclaimed, and shoved at Nico’s chest, loosening the hero’s grip on him while also knocking him off his balance. He stumbled backwards, tripping over the raised edge of the roof, and tumbled over the edge.

Nico lunged forward, reaching out in hopes of catching Ethan before he fell away. He heard Ethan scream as he fell, limbs flailing, and Nico swore he saw a hint of a smirk before the body below him vanished into a puff of smoke. 

Will pulled Nico back from the edge of the roof before he slipped off of it himself. He glanced over the edge, unable to see any trace of Ethan. He turned around and looked down at the remaining crowd expecting a live news report, and saw them all staring back up at him.

“Nico, we need to get out of here,” Will told him, and pulled Nico up onto his feet. He took a quick inventory of their surroundings, eyes finally landing on an abnormally orange spot on a rooftop in the distance. “I see him. Volpino, he’s just a few blocks away. We can catch him.”

Nico looked over his shoulder, spotting Volpino just in time to see him leap off the rooftop. “Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

The sun had set by the time they finally returned to Nico’s room. They released their transformations and stomped down the stairs to see Jason and Piper still sitting on the couch, though now Percy had joined them. 

“Hey, where have you guys been?” Piper asked. “You missed dinner  _ and _ the news report. It was crazy, you won’t believe what happened.”

“I think we have a pretty good guess,” Will muttered, and flopped down into a reclining chair, Nico soon following and curling up on Will’s lap. 

“You look pretty upset,” Percy said, doing a terrible job of hiding the knowing tone of his voice. “Did, uh, something happen?”

Nico glared at him, though it didn’t last long. Jason hurried to change the channel, though the next three stations were all playing repeats of that afternoon’s event.

Nico watched out of the corner of his eye as he swooped down off the roof of a building, cutting Ethan off just as he said, “The real identity of--” and the channel changed. The next shot showed him holding Ethan by the front of his shirt, and then Ethan pushing away from him. Except, that wasn’t how it looked on the screen. It  _ looked like _ Nico pushed Ethan, and then watched to make sure he didn’t catch a grip on the building. The channel changed, and showed Nico and Will fleeing the scene, Volpino nowhere in sight. The channel changed once more, revealing a close-up shot of the same reporter from the original interview.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir fled the scene after pushing local high school student Ethan Nakamura off the roof of a building across the street from his interview, just before he was able to reveal their identities. The  _ supposed superheroes _ have only been seen once since the report early today, running across the rooftops in what we can only assume was a getaway. Police have asked everyone to keep a lookout for the two masked murderers, but not to engage. If anyone has any information on their whereabouts, please call the number on the screen. The police assure you that Ladybug and Chat Noir will be taken into custody as soon as they are found, and will be punished justly for their wrongdoings. This is Laurel Victor reporting--”

“Turn it off,” Nico said, and he watched the channel change again, finally something that wasn’t related to the news. 

“Seriously, what’s up with you two?” Piper asked. “I’m gonna guess that you didn’t break up, so what are you so upset about? It’s not like either of you knew that Ethan kid.”

“Piper,” Jason started warningly. 

“They have their reasons,” Percy said. 

Piper frowned. “Well, clearly the two of you know those reasons, too, so why can’t I know?” 

Nico and Will exchanged a look and a nod, and just as Jason was uttering another  _ Piper, _ Will said, “I’m Chat Noir.”

The three heads of those sitting on the couch shot in their direction, two of them surprised at the open confession, and the third shrieking,  _ “WHAT?” _

“And it’s not like it matters anyway, since we can never show our masked faces in public again, but…”

“I’m Ladybug,” Nico said, and this time Jason joined in on the exclaimed,  _ “WHAT?” _

“Totally called it,” Percy said, lounging back with a smug look on his face. 

Nico rolled his eyes and stood from his seat on Will’s lap. “You know what?” he said, rhetorically, and picked up the remote from where Jason had placed it on the coffee table. “Show’s over, see you guys later.”

He shut the TV off and plunged the room into darkness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> every time i think im done with this series i end off with a cliffhanger whats my problem  
> anyway thanks for reading!!

**Author's Note:**

> by the way this was a gift for my 400 followers on tumblr!! so thanks guys for that,,,,,,,,, hope u enjoyed this and thanks for reading,,,,,,,, im sorry the boy is stupid and doesnt tell will about his problems but what do u expect,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, anyway this will have another chapter eventually so stick around


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